


Red Stripes White Lights

by AkinoAme



Category: Kamen Rider Ryuki
Genre: Asexuality, Demisexuality, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Series, Treating injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 18:59:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1699088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkinoAme/pseuds/AkinoAme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the months before Shinji became Ryuki, Ren and Yui already had a partnership going, even if it had its ups and downs. They weren't friends to start, which made it harder; and they certainly weren't in love, which made it easier. Ren's only love was the reason why he fought. Yui would just be happy if he managed not to bleed to death in her house</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Stripes White Lights

_"Look at the scars today_  
 _Nothing's wasted."_  
 _Eyeshine, "Red Stripes White Lights"_

 

                It was strange having the teahouse all to herself for so long, but if there was anyone who could handle the solitude, it was Kanzaki Yui. Her aunt took these trips across the globe whenever she had the money: a week in the Sahara, a month in China, a couple of weeks in Siberia. But this trip was the longest yet: a whole winter in the Himalayas. She intended for it to be a test before she booked a trip to her heart's goal, the Amazon, and if Yui could stand her being gone so long. Yui had been welcome to come along, of course, and there was plenty of money set aside for the trip for her, but she preferred staying home. The idea of travel didn't appeal to her nearly as much as it did to her aunt—maybe a trip to America to visit her brother, but nothing else really interested her. It provoked another discussion where her aunt told her she needed to live a little and stop being such a homebody, but in the end, the money that would have paid for Yui's trip went to living expenses while Atori was closed.

                And it was nice. Quiet, but it was a nice break from the chaos the shop could turn into when they were open. She just had to politely deflect some of their regulars who'd forgotten the announcement that they were closing for the season, especially when it was usually their busiest time.

                Like now, for instance. A motorcycle pulled up to the gate, and the rider pulled off his helmet and walked up to the door. He stopped at the "Closed" sign and looked confused, so Yui sighed and walked over to crack open the door.

                "I'm sorry," she said. "We're closed for the season."

                It was probably a good thing her aunt was out of the country for a while. One look at this man, and she'd be trying to set him up with Yui. He was definitely in his twenties, somewhere around her brother's age, and she couldn't deny that he was handsome, but no one she'd find herself interested in—no matter how much her aunt tried to meddle.

                "I'm looking for Kanzaki Yui?" he asked.

                Uh-oh. That definitely _would_ have been trouble if her aunt was here. Even now, she was a little guarded as she answered, "That's me."

                "Do you know Kanzaki Shiro?"

                Now, she was really on-guard. "Yes, but he goes by Tamaki Shiro now. He's my brother; he lives in America."

                "America?" he repeated. "He doesn't go to Seimeiin University?"

                "No," she answered. There was something at the edges of her perception—a high-pitched ringing that she'd first heard in her childhood. She glanced at the window and saw the source—one of the Mirror Monsters she'd seen since she was little flying behind his reflection. But what could it do? It was safely in the Mirror World, so she let it go.

                He seemed to notice something was up, and he asked, "What's wrong?"

                "Nothing," she said. "Just a little confused. What was your name?"

                "Akiyama Ren. I wanted to ask you a few questions."

                "Do you know my brother?" she asked.

                Ren hesitated for a moment. The truth wouldn't be pretty. "No."

                "But you've met him?" she guessed.

                "Once," he replied. "Which is why I need to know something."

                "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know if I can help. As far as I knew, he was still in America—he was adopted by our uncle in New York. Since then, I haven't seen him much."

                That was discouraging. After months of searching and many false leads, he thought he'd finally found a solid clue to Kanzaki Shiro. But if she didn't know anything, there was nothing he could do.

                "All right," he sighed. "Sorry for bothering you."

                He turned, just as she called out, "Wait!" but something else caught his attention—the ringing noise and sense of a Monster's aura. He didn't see it yet, but from the sound of it, Darkwing did. He had to pinpoint it fast, before it attacked.

                Yui was watching him carefully and saw how he was glancing toward the glass. She heard it too—very close, somewhere on the street.

                "Can you hear that?" she asked cautiously.

                He abandoned his search immediately. No. Kanzaki couldn't have. Not his own _sister_.

                "You can't..." he breathed. "You're not...a Kamen Rider?"

                "What's a Kamen Rider?" she asked, looking at him in confusion.

                He was out of time. The Monster was here. It was going to attack. He looked around and saw it stalking a couple of children down the street.

                "I'll explain later," he promised, running.

                The Monster leapt out of the window. The kids never saw it coming. Ren took a chance, leapt, and tackled it. He went skidding across the pavement; the Monster was unharmed, but it was forced to abandon its attack.

                The kids saw everything now, with the Monster drawing back to the Mirror World and Ren struggling to get to his feet. As they screamed, he shouted, "Run! Get out of here!"

                "This way!" Yui insisted, guiding the kids her way. She looked at Ren, but he got up and ran to the window to transform. He held out his deck to the glass, the belt appeared around him, and then the armor converged over his body. And with a quick check of his Visor, he charged straight into the mirror.

                She couldn't believe it. Transforming superheroes were fiction—magical girl guardians and giant alien warriors from TV and comics. Yet, this happened: motions, invocation, transformation. And now, he was fighting the Monster on the other side of the mirror. Just how, she couldn't understand—she'd only ever been able to see the Mirror World, never travel to it. And while she'd always feared as a child that the Monsters might pass between worlds and get free in the real world, it hadn't ever happened before now.

                Some part of her had always worried that maybe she was crazy, believing that there was a whole other world through the looking-glass, but here was definite proof.

                It wasn't a particularly strong Monster, so Ren was able to finish it off quickly. He headed back to the window he'd entered from and saw Yui staring at him—not in his general direction, like would happen if she was just watching in shock, but looking directly at _him_. He lowered his head and passed through, trying to walk past her.

                "Those children you saved are okay," she offered. "They were scared, but they ran home."

                He nodded without speaking, making his way to his bike. She followed.

                "Your sleeve..." she pointed out. He glanced down. There was some damage to his jacket—the pavement had scraped it up pretty badly. It would be a pain to try to restore.

                "I can replace it," she offered, and he finally stopped, trying not to sigh.

                "What do you want?" he asked.

                "You could hear the Monsters," she said. "You could _see_ them. No one's ever been able to see them besides me."

                This was a waste of time. But if he was going to get rid of her, it would be better to explain, and he held up his deck. "It's only because of this. Take it away, and I can't see the Mirror World."

                "Or pass through," she guessed. "How did you get that?"

                He put his deck back in his pocket and reached for his helmet. "Ask your brother."

                "My brother?" she repeated. "He gave you that?"

                " _Created_ it," he affirmed. "He's the one who set up this Rider War."

                "Rider? That's what you were talking about before, right?" she asked. "That's a Kamen Rider?"

                "Knight," he answered with a nod. "Or at least, that's the name he gave me. There's supposed to be twelve others: Ryuga, Femme, Verde, Tiger, Imperer, Gai, Zolda, Ouja, Raia, Ryuki, Scissors, and Odin. But I haven't met any of them yet."

                "And when you meet them..." she said cautiously, remembering what he said about a war.

                "I'll fight them," he insisted. "And win."

                That was it. So matter-of-fact. It didn't matter that people's lives were on the line. And to say her brother was part of it? "My brother would _never_ be connected to something like that!"

                Some part of him probably should have felt bad about telling her this. After all, it was her brother involved. But with what he'd done to Eri, what that did to him, he couldn't make himself care.

                "Believe what you want, but it's the truth."

                "Liar!" she growled. "You don't know my brother at all."

                Ren knew enough. He knew that Kanzaki had run an experiment that put Eri in a coma. He forced Ren to choose—betray everything Eri believed in to become a Kamen Rider and fight, or let her die. He gave him a deck, he made him give up everything for the vague hope of a wish.

                "Maybe you're the one who doesn't know him," he said bitterly. "You should see some of the things he's done."

                "Like what?" she challenged.

                He didn't answer. It was too raw. Finally, she said, "I'll show you. We'll find my brother, and you'll see. He's nothing like what you think."

                He turned away. "Think what you want. But you'll see for yourself."

                She glared after him, but what else could she do? One of them would be proven right eventually, and until then, there was nothing to do but put up with each other.

 

~~~

 

                They weren't friends to start. It was just an arrangement of convenience. Namely that Ren needed answers about Kanzaki, and so did Yui. It just worked. Yui's abilities to sense the Monsters were sharper than Ren's, able to pinpoint them seconds faster than he could. Ren fought them and did his best to keep them from eating humans. They made a great team, if not for the fact that they weren't all that fond of each other.

                And if there was one thing Yui couldn't stand about Ren, it was that he was _petty._

                She'd promised to replace his ruined jacket, but that was before they'd argued. Still, the very next day, he showed up to the teahouse in a brand new leather duster and presented the receipt.

                "That can't be the same price as your old one," she deadpanned.

                "Leather isn't cheap," he replied, clearly enjoying every second of this. "I was lucky to find it on sale."

                She glared at him for a minute, and no, she wasn't imagining it—he was _definitely_ smirking at her. Aggravated, she went to her purse and got the money, shoving it at him.

                "You're awful."

                "I take promises seriously," he answered, taking the cash. "It's your fault for promising so quickly."

                He was doing this on purpose, just to aggravate her. Refusing to give in, she turned away and said, "You might as well come in. I'll make tea."

                He was a little taken off-guard, but with her walking over to heat up the kettle, there really wasn't much he _could_ do.

                "Is Ceylon okay?" she asked.

                He had absolutely no idea. He assumed she was referring to tea, but he hadn't realized there was more to tea beyond "black, white, or green."

                "Yeah," he answered.

                Now, it was Yui's turn to hide a smile. "It's a little citrusy, but not too much. You'll like it." Next, she pulled out some sugar cookies and put them on a plate. "Here, I just made them."

                Ren had the feeling that if he didn't start eating, he was going to hear about it. Somehow, she'd completely gained the upper hand in this battle of wills.

                "My aunt and I usually make them for the afternoon customers, but I was a little bored today, so I thought why not," she explained.

                Something didn't quite add up, and Ren said, "You said your uncle took in your brother."

                "Different sides of the family," she clarified. "My parents died when I was little, and that left my father's sister and my mother's brother the only ones left who could take care of us. They thought I was too young to go overseas, but since my brother was in middle school, it would be better for him to get the chance to go to school there."

                "But now he's back," he pointed out.

                She glanced at the photos on the counter of her brother's last visit, a little less than a year ago. "It doesn't make any sense that he wouldn't tell me. I've barely seen him since we were separated, but I still feel that bond between us. He was the only person I could tell about the Monsters—everyone else thought I was making things up."

                The kettle whistled, and she got up to pour the water into the teapot. It bought Ren enough time to choose his words carefully, and he asked, "So he's known since you were children?"

                "He said he believed me," she admitted with a smile, "but I always wondered if he just said that to make me feel better. You're the first person I've met who's ever seen the Mirror World."

                "You're not missing much," he deadpanned as she handed him a cup of tea.

                Choosing her own question carefully, she asked, "So that's what that armor is for? Fighting Monsters?"

                "And other Riders," he pointed out. The annoyed look on her face returned, and since it was better actually getting information instead of making her mad, he continued, "But mostly, it's to protect me from the Mirror World's energy."

                "Its energy?"

                "It doesn't like any kind of matter that comes from this world," he explained. "If you go in unprotected, it starts to dissolve you. And even with the suit, I've only got so much time before I start to disappear too."

                "How?"

                "I don't know. I probably wouldn't understand the physics behind it."

                That was bringing them dangerously close to the elephant in the room, and Yui admitted, "My brother might, if he's known about the Mirror World this long."

                "He was a physics student when I met him," Ren said.

                "Did you go to his school?" she asked. "Seimeiin?"

                Not him, Eri. But he couldn't bring himself to say that.

                "No. But people who did had him in one of their physics labs."

                She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I still can't believe he's set up a battle between people. If you knew him, you'd see."

                "You haven't lived with him since you were kids," he pointed out.

                "It doesn't change who he is!" she argued. "This has to be a misunderstanding."

                Ren got to his feet. "There's no misunderstanding what I saw. If you saw the people who've been hurt by this, you wouldn't try to defend him."

                Yui stared at him in shock for a moment. He believed this, with all his heart. Whatever had happened to him, whatever he'd seen—it was bad enough to make him believe the worst.

                There was a ringing sound again from the Mirror World. They both turned to look at the windows on the door and saw a Monster wielding a tomahawk.

                "Get down!" Ren shouted.

                Yui wasted no time ducking, just as the Monster threw its weapon. She heard Ren shout and something hit one of the chairs, and then silence.

                "Ren?" she called out in fear. No answer. "Ren!"

                "I'm okay," he answered, his voice sounding anything but.

                She moved out from behind the counter and peered around the lintel. Ren was slumped up against the bar, pressing his hand tightly against his side. There was a bloodied tomahawk right next to him.

                "Ren!" she screamed, running over. She kicked the tomahawk out of the way and knelt next to him, as he shook his head, trying to gesture to the window. Remembering the Monster, she glanced over to see it walking away.

                "Warning shot," he realized. "Do you have any bandages?"

                "The first aid kit's upstairs," she said, helping him up. "This way."

                It was obvious that going up the steps was painful with the location of his wound, but with the stairway as narrow as it was, she couldn't do much to help. When she got him into the kitchen and sat him down on the couch by the window, she grabbed the box her aunt kept first aid supplies in.

                "Let me see," she said, pulling gloves on.

                Ren moved his hand away, revealing a slice through his shirt and pants. Blood was all over his hand, and a large stain was soaking into his clothing.

                "You need to go to the hospital," she warned.

                He drew in a sharp breath between his clenched teeth and shook his head. "Too expensive just for bandages."

                Yui was aghast. Really, Ren? At a time like this, you were going to be cheap?

                Picking up on this, he explained, "I get hurt enough as a Rider that I can't afford a doctor every time. I have to do what I can on my own."

                Though hesitant, she nodded. "Okay. But I can't do anything while your clothes are in the way. You're going to have to..."

                He nodded and started shrugging off his jacket, with her help. His shirt and pants followed, so there would be enough room that they could bandage the wound. If either of them was supposed to be embarrassed by him stripping down to his underwear in the middle of what was essentially a stranger's kitchen, the nature of the crisis was enough to suppress that instinct.

                "You're lucky," she said. "It's not as deep as it could have been."

                "Not lucky," he insisted. "The Monsters only target someone if they plan on eating them. I'm Contracted, so I don't have to worry."

                "But that Monster..." she argued.

                He looked at her seriously. "It was sent after me. Someone told it to hurt me, but not kill me, and then to leave. Otherwise, it'd still be here."

                They went silent for a moment, with Yui still applying pressure. The Monsters didn't have the intelligence needed to make that kind of attack—she knew that. Ren was right. Someone had told it to only do enough to act as a warning. That only left two possibilities: another Rider, or even...

                He gasped suddenly as she pressed too hard.

                "Sorry," she apologized. "You're still bleeding, and right through the gauze. This is a long cut—you really should go to the hospital."

                He managed to reach for another dressing. "Do what you can."

                She hesitated before taking the package, but he'd already clamped his hand on the dressing already in place. Finally, she opened it and set the dressing over the old one.

                "Keep it there," she warned. "I'm going to get a cloth to clean it."

                He nodded and kept up the pressure, resting his head back and closing his eyes. While she was at it, she collected his bloodied clothes and set them in the wash before going to the sink; any more time spent applying pressure couldn't hurt, though his hands were beginning to shake from the strain. Honestly, she was right. He _should_ have gone to the hospital—they would have been able to do a lot more than she had. But he hated every second he had to be there—it meant he wasn't out there fighting, saving Eri. Even his visits were torture, and he felt like he needed to apologize. She didn't have a lot of time, and wishing for her to wake up wouldn't do anything if he couldn't win the power to save her.

                "Ren?" Yui asked. There were tears at the corners of his eyes. She didn't have the courage to ask him why.

                Silently, he lifted the wads of gauze, revealing the bloodied mess that was his wound, bleeding all over again now that the dressing had been removed. She gave him the cloth to clean it quickly while she opened yet another package of gauze to replace the dressing. Once it was clean enough, she set the new dressing in place and applied pressure until she was sure it had stopped bleeding through. Another piece of gauze went in place over that, and she taped everything down. All in all, it had taken four pieces of gauze, two washcloths, hospital tape, two pairs of gloves, and all of their energy to treat that wound.

                Yui threw out everything they'd used and washed her hands. When Ren didn't get up, she brought him a bowl of water, some soap, and paper towels to wash the blood off.

                "Are you okay now?"she asked.

                "Yeah," he answered, despite the pain and exhaustion evident in his voice. He started to try to get up, but she pushed him back down.

                "Don't," she warned. "We just got the bleeding to stop." Quieter, she admitted, "I probably shouldn't have tried to clean it—that only started it up again."

                "It's fine," he insisted, wincing as he tried to adjust his position.

                She put the bowl in the sink and went to the cookies cooling on the table. She gave him a handful and said, "Here. You should eat something."

                He didn't have the energy left to argue, and that alone told him he should probably eat. As he started, Yui said, "I'll get everything cleaned up."

                His clothes were done in the wash, so she moved them into the dryer so she could start on the washcloths. She looked over at him and saw he'd finished the cookies and was resting again, this time while clutching his necklace. She frowned—she really hadn't been paying attention to anything other than his wound, so she wasn't sure just what was so important about his necklace that he was clutching it for dear life like that. But she decided to give him his privacy and get to work on the downstairs.

                None of the china had broken, which was a minor miracle and easy enough to straighten up. But as she started to clean up the blood, she saw that the tomahawk had disappeared—just the way Ren had said real world matter would disappear in the Mirror World.

                Once she'd scrubbed the blood out of the wall and off the wood, she went back upstairs and saw that he was gone. His clothes had been taken out of the dryer early, and there were crumpled bills left behind on the table. She glanced out the window, and there he was—dressed, stiffly sitting on his bike, and leaving.

                The money on the table added up to half the price of his jacket. Whether he'd meant it as an apology or out of gratitude, she couldn't tell. Either way, all she could do was hope he'd be okay.

 

~~~

 

                Despite Yui's best efforts, the wound did get infected. Ren tried to hide it as best as he could for the next week, but it wasn't easy. Over-the-counter medications for the pain, antiseptic to clean the wound, repeated changings of the bandage, ice when the swelling and pain got to be too much. He tried to do it at home, but he spent a lot of his free time at Atori trying to find leads or track down Monsters, and Yui insisted on following him whenever there was a battle. He honestly couldn't blame her, given every battle was a step closer to her brother, but it made it hard to cover up how much he was favoring one side over the other, how much he tried to keep any attacks from hitting that side, how sore he was when he returned. She saw all of that, but he just walked past her and headed home to tend his injuries.

                But finally, it got to be too much, and he dragged himself back into Atori, holding his side. She saw it immediately and asked, "It's hurting again?"

                Instead of answering, he lifted his shirt and pulled off the bandage. While the bleeding had stopped, now there was yellow pus left behind.

                As she stared in horror, he groaned, "I figure you told me so. So..."

                "You need to get to a doctor," she insisted. "Now."

                He didn't try arguing this time. He just let her lead him to his bike and tried not to wince when she got on behind him and held on.

                "Sorry," she said, moving her arm away from his injury.

                "Don't be," he replied. "It was my own fault anyway."

                His local hospital was the same one Eri was at, so he already knew and trusted the medical staff there. The time spent waiting only made him more certain—if resigned—to what he had to do. Yui wasn't going anywhere.

                As a nurse sat down with him, he asked, "Can I authorize someone for my emergency contact list?"

                Yui looked at him in surprise, but not the nurse, who handed Ren his file and a pen, letting him write in her name and phone number. She tried to ask him why, but he wouldn't look at her.

                The doctor came in soon enough and started re-treating the wound. It didn't take long, but Ren was definitely in pain, or at the very least extremely uncomfortable, based on how white his knuckles got as he gripped the sides of his chair.

                "All done," the nurse said once they applied a new bandage. "Make sure to keep that clean—change the bandages daily."

                When Ren nodded, the doctor said, "I'm going to prescribe an antibiotic for the infection. You're lucky we caught it this early, before it got worse."

                "Thank you," Yui answered, helping Ren out of his seat so he wouldn't tear himself open again.

                As they started to make their way out the door, the doctor stopped Ren and asked, "Can I speak to you for a minute?"

                Yui paused in concern, but Ren said, "Go ahead and wait for me. I'll be there in a minute."

                When Yui was gone, the doctor asked, "Is she a friend of yours?"

                He'd been expecting this misunderstanding, and he was automatically on the defensive. "She's helping me out. Nothing else."

                "That's not what I'm asking," the doctor insisted, trying to calm him down. "I'm only asking if you want to add her to your girlfriend's emergency contacts."

                He looked away. He was the only person Eri had left—her family had died years ago, and there was nobody close enough to her who she'd have trusted to take care of her. If anything happened to him, she was lost.

                He sighed. "Her brother was there when Eri collapsed. He had something to do with it." The doctor nodded. "Right now, I don't feel comfortable telling her."

                "All right," he agreed. "If you change your mind, let us know."

                He didn't answer. He walked out and met up with Yui by his bike. As she handed him his helmet, she asked, "Is everything okay?"

                She wasn't going to let him leave this alone, so he answered, "Yeah. Just needed to take care of something."

                He took her home but didn't turn off his bike. When she saw he wasn't following, she asked, "Aren't you coming in?"

                He couldn't think of an answer this time, so he just drove off—from Yui standing in front of Atori in concern, to an empty, unfeeling apartment, where he stood face-to-face with Eri's helmet.

                If he had to be completely honest with himself, the real reason why he spent so much time at Atori was because he couldn't stand coming home.

                The apartment was fairly nice, at least on their limited budget. Eri had inherited enough from her parents to furnish everything on the cheap, and Ren hadn't owned much to begin with when he moved in with her—even now, his bike and his jacket were two of the very few luxuries he had.

                But in the end, belongings were nothing without someone to belong to. When he'd first come home after the experiment, it had hit him how _empty_ it was without her. It had taken time for him to become comfortable sharing a bed with her. He wasn't a prude; it had just taken time for him to transition from friendship to romance and from romance to sex. He couldn't imagine being with anyone else—not in love, not in sex.

                The bed was too big without her. The first night after her coma began, he cried himself to sleep. The second night, and most nights from then on, he'd taken the couch instead.

                He wasn't in love with Yui. That was easy enough. And he was reasonably sure that she didn't think about him that way either.

                The problem, deep down, was that he hated being there. He hated the quiet, the emptiness, even if he knew it was nothing compared to what Eri was going through. But sometimes, it was too much. He hated the dark, lonely apartment when he came home, where it never seemed like there was enough light to chase away the shadows.

                But at Atori, there was always light—soft, barely enough to see by, and constantly threatening to burn out if he breathed wrong, but the darkness wasn't nearly as strong there.

                If he told himself he needed Yui's help, it was easier. But one day, she would learn the truth about her brother, and one day, she wouldn't be nearly as helpful. But for now...

                And what would happen when he had to kill the other Riders? What then?

                He stared at Eri's helmet for a long time. She wouldn't be using it any time soon. But still, he couldn't just give it away.

                He didn't want friends—or so he told himself. But he did want— _need_ —help. And that he could do.

                He sighed and left for the store.

 

~~~

 

                To be honest, Yui wasn't at all sure what to make of Ren. Maybe it was because she still barely knew him, but his personality changed all the time. Sometimes, he was disagreeable and picking a fight. Sometimes, he was sarcastic but relaxed. Sometimes, he was quiet and intense. Sometimes, quiet and sad. Sometimes stingy, sometimes generous. Sometimes friendly, sometimes— _most times_ —keeping her at a distance. If she managed to catch him off-guard, he was more willing to go along with things and even seemed to try to be nicer. But shock him too much, and he closed in on himself again.

                She really didn't have a frame of reference to work off of, which made it harder. She'd never had a friend—she'd always been the strange one, whether it was because she saw Monsters no one else did or because she didn't have any interest in romance or sex and got exhausted and found excuses to leave when the other girls at school were talking about boys. From childhood to teenage years, she was just the outsider, never fitting in.

                And most of the time, she was fine with it. All she really needed was her aunt, and the limited contact with her brother. But with this mystery going on with her brother at the heart of it and whatever had happened to Ren...she needed to understand him, and she wasn't sure she ever would.

                Sometimes inviting, sometimes cold. Sometimes making her his emergency medical contact and sometimes blowing her off without an explanation.

                And sometimes coming back and handing her a helmet, which she took in confusion.

                "What's this?"

                "A helmet. If you're going to be on the bike with me, you're going to need one. I don't need your brother coming to kill me."

                It was nice, at least in the way she was getting used to from him—he just didn't do something nice without having a sarcastic comment behind it.

                "Thank you."

                He didn't make eye contact. It made her uneasy, the way he was trusting her so much, but not explaining anything.

                "Why?"

                This time, he had to look her way.

                "Why are you doing all this?" she asked. "The helmet, and your medical file..."

                "Well..." he said, hesitantly. "I guess, since it doesn't look like I'm going to get rid of you any time soon..."

                He wasn't being entirely truthful. Somehow, that didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. He just wasn't good about talking about his feelings, or dealing with other people. Honestly, she could sympathize.

                "Come on inside," she insisted with a smile. "I'll make some tea." He nodded and quietly followed her in.            

                So this was what it was like to have a friend.

 

~~~

 

                The end of November gave way to December and what would have been the busy season for Atori. Tea was always good for the cold, and couples liked a quiet place for a date this close to Christmas.

                It was a nice change of pace having just one regular visitor with Ren. He'd come in before his part-time job or afterwards, pay for some tea, and then they'd go out on patrol. They checked the newspapers for any recent disappearances and investigated, usually finding a Monster quickly. Anything she found while he was at work, she called him for. She hated bothering him about it, but he said there wasn't much either of them could do about it. Monsters needed to be fought. It was a routine—not a particularly good one, but a comfortable one.

                And then he came in off-schedule, right when he'd normally be working, slammed money down on the counter, and sat down.

                This wasn't the usual routine. Routine was _safe—_ this was anything but. Yui looked at him, but he avoided her gaze. Furthermore, there were bruises on his fingers—he'd been fighting, or at least punching something.

                "You didn't," she realized. "You lost your job?"

                "Just get me some tea," he said, the aggravation in his voice plain as day.

                She grabbed a box of Assam and started scooping it into a strainer while the water boiled. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him rubbing his wrist. Quickly, she ran over and grabbed the first aid kit.

                "Here," she said, offering him a roller bandage.

                He looked up in surprise before answering, "It's fine. Just sore." She started to put it back, looking upset. Realizing that he'd made her feel guilty, he explained, "A Monster attacked while I was at work. Its armor was stronger than I was ready for, and I hurt myself punching it."

                Though hesitant, Yui nodded before going to get the tea. He didn't notice too much of a difference when he sipped it—it was stronger, but he wasn't sure it was anything different from what he usually had.

                "I'm sorry you lost your job."

                He sighed and set down the cup. "I quit. There's a difference."

                "It was because of the Monsters, wasn't it?"

                He couldn't deny it. His boss hadn't been happy with him running off in the middle of his shift or showing up late because he'd had to fight something. The bruises and other injuries didn't help his case. It finally came down to a confrontation, and Ren quit.

                "Don't blame yourself," he insisted. "It was going to happen anyway. There's no helping it."

                "Still..." she hesitated.

                "It's close enough to Christmas that I can get something else," he pointed out. "There's always something this time of year."

                "True," she admitted.

                She still didn't seem completely convinced. And he hated feeling like this _._ It wasn't her fault. Between the inconvenient Monster attacks and his own reactionary temper, it was going to happen sooner or later. Honestly, it was better that he quit rather than got fired—it had always made it easier for him to find another job that way.

                But for now, he had to deal with Yui feeling guilty, so he announced, "On my way back, I saw police surrounding an apartment. It looks like there was another disappearance."

                The subject change distracted her immediately. "Did you sense a Monster?"

                "Not yet, but I might have missed something," he admitted. "We should check it out."

                "Okay," she agreed, making her way to get her helmet. As she caught up to him waiting on the bike, she asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

                "Yeah," he answered, trying to sound sincere.

                Not entirely buying it, she replied, "Don't worry about paying anymore. I'm not going to ask for money from you when..."

                "I'm fine," he insisted shortly. "But I'll take you up on the offer."

                She rolled her eyes. At least it meant he wasn't too bad off.

                Just as he'd said, there were police all over the apartment building, and it was tough finding a place to park. He stayed on the bike while she tried to get a look beyond the crowd, standing on her toes.

                "This is a lot more than just police," she pointed out.

                "The attacks have been happening for months," he replied. "Of course, the media's getting involved."

                Leave it to Ren to just be dismissive. Yui rolled her eyes and sighed, "With all the noise, it's making it hard to..."

                She was interrupted by an extremely loud screech from the Mirror World, loud enough to make her lose her balance as she grabbed her head. Ren wasn't much better, leaning over the handles of his bike and grimacing before the nails-on-wet-glass sound became a distinct roar.

                "The Monster," she said.

                "Guess it didn't eat enough," he muttered, getting off the bike and chasing the sound.

                "Wait!" she cried, running after him.

                There was a crimson dragon flying along the sides of the buildings, like a red ribbon waving within the glass. Ren came to a stop in a narrow alley between two buildings and turned to face the window, holding out his deck. But before he could transform, Yui grabbed his arm.

                "Wait," she warned. "You sensed its aura—that dragon is a lot stronger than any other Monsters we've seen."

                "That's just what I need," he answered.

                His resolve was almost frightening, and she backed down, giving him room to transform. Then he passed through into the Mirror World, leaving her to watch, uncertain.

                Traveling through the mirror was never a quick trip; Riders always had to pass through a dimension between the real and Mirror Worlds first. Sometimes, Ren didn't mind the delay—it gave him time to plot out a strategy.

                And sometimes, a chance to realize he probably should have just listened to Yui in the first place, since the first thing he saw when he approached his exit portal was the dragon spewing fire.

                Darkwing flew ahead of him and caught the dragon by surprise, forcing it back. It gave Ren just enough time to get off the Ride Shooter and scan his Sword Vent card. He charged while Darkwing kept the dragon's attention, but the dragon only swatted him away with its tail.

                He barely had time to recover when he heard Yui screaming his name from the other side. He looked up, and the dragon had turned his way, breathing more fire directly at him. Instinctively, he lifted his sword to block. It heated up rapidly, turning bright red and forcing him to drop it, clutching his burned hand as the sword disintegrated.

                "You don't stand a chance, Ren!" Yui shouted. "Get out of there!"

                He scrambled back to the Ride Shooter and returned through the window, followed closely by Darkwing, watching his back. He wasn't going to make it. Even in the space between worlds, the dragon had followed him, still spitting fire.

                "Darkwing!" he shouted, but Darkwing was already moving to interfere. The dragon only roared at its sonic cries and blasted more fire, forcing Darkwing to retreat.

                "Ren!" Yui cried from the other side of the glass. From her point of view, it only looked like Ren was still trying to reach the window—she didn't see the shattered mirrors all around him, warping in the heat.

                Another shot of dragon-fire hit the Ride Shooter, causing Ren to lose control and spinout, hitting another glass portal. On the other side, to her left, Yui saw a window break. Quickly, Ren detached himself from the restraints and crawled away from the wreckage, just as the dragon blasted more fire at it.

                Yui screamed and ducked as the force of the attack blew out the broken window. When she looked back at the window, Ren was sprinting toward her, with the dragon unleashing blast after blast after him, only barely held off by Darkwing.

                He wasn't going to make it.

                "Ren," she breathed in fear, placing her hand against the window. There was nothing she could do—without a deck, she couldn't pass through the window. There was no way to help.

                The glass felt warm under her hand—the dragon's fire was heating it up from the other side. It rippled at her touch—not like molten glass, but like a pool of mercury. The portal was opening.

                If there was ever a time for trust, it was now. She stuck her hand through and screamed, "Ren!"

                There wasn't time for him to be shocked at how Yui was beginning to pass through the glass, or to be afraid of the consequences. Ren grabbed her hand and let her pull him across dimensions, until he finally collapsed on top of her in the real world.

                "Stay down!" he warned, just as fire and broken glass showered on top of him, and the dragon burst through momentarily, roaring and snapping its jaws. It finally retreated back into the Mirror World, leaving them silent and shaking.

                The sound of sirens finally reminded Ren of where they were, and he stood up, yanking Yui with him. "Come on."

                She nodded and followed him down the alleyways, where they ducked the arriving patrol cars. After a few minutes, she heard the sirens stop, and she said, "I think they've all gone already." Ren stopped, but he didn't transform back. Seeing this, she asked, "Aren't you..."

                Almost hesitantly, he removed the deck from his belt, and the armor disappeared like breaking glass. Immediately, Yui could understand why he hadn't removed it earlier: He was pale, his normally tanner skin taking on an uncomfortable pallor; a cold sweat was dripping from his face; and every so often, his hands trembled, betraying him—he was scared. Absolutely terrified.

                It was uncomfortable to watch, so she only looked down at one of his hands (still shaking) and saw a streak of pink across his palm.

                "You're hurt," she pointed out. It was easier to pretend that was the bigger problem, and she found it easier to say, "Let's get back. We've got something for burns back home."

                He didn't respond, but he went along with her back to the bike, gingerly taking the handlebar. He was completely rigid on the ride back and silent when they got inside. She sat him down and managed to wrap up his hand and wrist, taking care around the light pink burn.

                "It's better than I thought it was," she admitted. "It shouldn't take much time to heal, but just be careful with it." When he didn't answer, she said, "Your Rider armor protected you pretty well, but that Monster is just too strong. If you hadn't run when you did..."

                He slammed his other fist on the table, making the teacup in front of him tip over, spilling cold tea all over the table. She jumped back in surprise and started to reach for a towel, but he'd already gotten up and walked to the door.

                "Ren!"

                The door slammed shut. Tea still dripped onto the floor. A towel fell on top of the mess in a half-hearted throw.

                She'd had enough.

 

~~~

 

                In the days that followed, Ren was avoidant and Yui was angry—which suited him just fine. All his life had been a series of short-term goals: get through high school, get a job, fight the Riders, save Eri. His current goal was defeating the red dragon, but Yui didn't want him anywhere near it, more worried about his safety than him getting stronger. Long-term goals, like staying alive beyond this, weren't his forte.

                Defeat the dragon and let Darkwing absorb its energy. Get stronger. Defeat the Riders. Make a wish to save Eri. That was all he wanted, and all he really needed.

                Yui didn't need to know.

                So he began fighting in secret. It wasn't hard, in that respect—he'd done this for most of his life, trying to keep the few people in his life that he cared about from finding out he'd gotten into a fight. And with Yui too upset to deal with him, there was little he had to hide.

                It wasn't the dragon, not this time, but a giant dragonfly was close enough to be trouble. Monsters this size were extremely rare, and as he was learning, dangerous. It was an active predator, swooping down from the Mirror World to pluck pedestrians off the street. It was early enough in the day that there weren't many people, but soon enough, more would come. Ren had to end it now, and he'd raced to the roof of a nearby building to transform. Darkwing latched onto his back in the Mirror World as he leapt off the roof and took flight, meeting the Monster in the air—and realizing, once again, that he was way out of his league.

                The Monster wasn't quite as large as the dragon, and certainly not as long, but it was big enough that when it slammed into Ren, he could hardly breathe. Darkwing struggled to keep him in the air, but just as soon as they'd recovered, the Monster shot off one of its claws, reeling them back in and snapping its mandibles. Ren just managed to duck and reach his deck and Visor, scanning his Trick Vent card. A doppelganger split off from him and managed to leap onto the dragonfly's head, plunging its sword into the claw to cut Ren free.

                The Monster shook off the clone and grabbed it once Ren had gotten some distance away. While he'd long since gotten over the discomfort of watching his illusory doubles be destroyed, there was still something unsettling about watching the way the Monster's mandibles snapped around the clone's neck before the doppelganger shattered—it very easily could have been the fate of the real thing.

                Another claw shot off toward him, but by now, he'd scanned Sword Vent and was able to parry it. But the Monster wasn't about to let him go so easily—it slammed into him again, this time separating him from Darkwing and ramming him through a window, into a building. In such close quarters, there was no way it could get in for a true fight, but that didn't stop it from firing off claw after claw, trying to drag him back over. For a while, he was able to deflect each one with his sword, but the Monster finally wised up and grabbed it out of his hand, reeling it over and then dropping it out the window.

                With the sword out of the way, the Monster was finally able to snare Ren's leg with one of its claws. The sudden pull threw him to the floor, where he desperately reached for anything to hold onto. Finally, he pulled his Visor and stabbed it into the floor, holding tight as his leg was suddenly yanked. Excruciating pain shot through him, but he still pulled back and tried to keep the Monster from ripping his leg off, all the while scanning a card.

                A terrible, high-pitched cry came through the window, but it might as well have been the sweetest music Ren had ever heard in his life. The Monster was forced to let go, backing away from Darkwing's Nasty Vent, giving Ren enough time to kick himself free of the claw and pull himself up. As he clung to his sword, he noticed he was beginning to disintegrate—how long had he been in the Mirror World? He couldn't remember, and with his injuries, he was well past his limit.

                He managed to get to his feet. Everything hurt. But at least the Monster was hurting too. He limped over to the window and scanned his Final Vent card. Darkwing flew over and held to his back once again, but the sword was lost. Ren was going to have to adapt this into a kick.

                They flew up and managed to get above the Monster before drilling into it in a spiraling kick. He suddenly felt the shock of impact turn into pain—he hadn't been nearly ready for it. Thick smoke and flames were behind him as Darkwing dropped him onto the roof again, and he hit it hard. He tried to stand, but his legs gave out under him, forcing him to crawl. Somehow or another, he managed to make it out of the Mirror World, where he landed face-down as his armor shattered off of him...and unknown to him, Yui was standing a few feet behind.

                For all she was angry, Yui hadn't left him on his own. Every time she sensed a Monster's aura, she raced there to see Ren fighting as if his life was on the line...or as if something more important was at stake. Every time, he limped back, exhausted and injured, way beyond his limits. But this was the worst it had ever been. She was frozen in place, watching as he tried to pick himself up, gasping for air, fighting back the urge to cry. It was only because he thought he was alone that he even showed that much—he was afraid to reveal his weaknesses even to himself.

                But why? What was he fighting for? What was it that was so important he had to risk his life for?

                He finally managed to push himself up even partially, but he still didn't have the strength to make it to his feet. Biting her lip, she decided she finally had to do something, and she ran over to help.

                "Yui?" he asked in surprise, his voice still raspy from exhaustion and pain.

                She didn't answer as she put her arm around him, supporting him as he slowly got to his feet. His knees almost buckled again, but he managed to support his weight on one leg while leaning on her.

                "Were you there the whole time?" he asked.

                She nodded, reluctantly. For a moment, neither one of them knew what to say, but Ren started to fall again, and she had to work harder to keep him standing.

                "Do you need to go to the hospital?" she asked.

                He shook his head. "Nothing's broken. I just need to rest."

                He started to walk, but Yui kept right next to him. "Don't even think about taking your bike. I'm calling a cab."

                He didn't try to argue. It took too much energy.

 

~~~

 

                Ren opened his eyes to bright light and didn't know where he was.

                Alarmed, he tried to sit up, but his body ached so much that he could barely move. He could only close his eyes against the light.

                The pain brought everything back: Yui had managed to get him back to Atori and somehow, up the stairs. When he hadn't been able to sit long enough for her to bandage him up, she told him to take her bed and rest. Before that, he'd fought that Monster and defeated it. Darkwing had consumed its energy, becoming stronger, and by extension, Kamen Rider Knight had become stronger.

                Ren didn't feel stronger. If anything, he felt weaker. It took all of his strength to sit up, and once he'd managed that, he could see why: There were bruises all over his ribcage from the Monster slamming into him, including a dark line where his breastplate had cut into him from the first impact. His feet had been bandaged up—also bruised and swollen from his miserable attempt at a kick. And because Yui wasn't as willing to take his pants off while he was asleep as she was taking off his shirt, his leg wasn't bandaged, so it hurt all the more when he tried to stand. He managed for only a few seconds before crashing to the floor.

                "Ren!" Yui cried, running in. She slipped an arm underneath him and managed to help him stand again before setting him on the bed. "What are you doing trying to stand up?"

                When he was in too much pain to answer, she left for a moment and came back with a glass of water and some aspirin. He wasted no time taking them and spent the next minute trying to catch his breath.

                "You've been asleep for over four hours," she explained. That explained why the light had been so bright—it was past noon, and the sun was angled in just a way to shine right through the window and onto his face. "I wasn't sure if I should wake you up."

                "It takes time to recover from reaching the Mirror World's time limit," he said, trying to get his shirt back on.

                "How long were you there for?" she asked.

                He paused only briefly before managing to get his shirt on. "I don't remember."

                Something in Yui hardened. "How many times were you in the Mirror World before that?"

                She was catching on, and he tersely answered, "I don't remember."

                "Were you going after that dragon again?" she challenged. "Do you remember that?"

                He didn't answer. And that said more than anything he could have.

                "If you do something like this again, I'll leave."

                Her voice was hard. Harder than his had ever gotten in the past. It was enough to startle him, but he couldn't let her have that victory. He managed to stand up, kept his balance, and turned, insisting, "That's not going to stop me."

                She grabbed his arm. "I mean it. The next time, it'll be me walking out the door."

                He hesitated. Not even Eri had challenged him like that before.

                "I can help patch you up, but I can't watch you do this to yourself," she said, her voice softening. "Why keep going on? You don't take care of your injuries, you pick fights with Monsters you can't handle, you shut down and get self-destructive when you're upset—if you don't care about yourself, why are you still fighting?"

                Because he'd promised the only person he'd ever been in love with that he'd save her. Because over all the time it took for him to progress from friend to lover, platonic to intimate, even from emotional to physical, she'd become the most important thing in his life.

                "I can't quit," he said quietly. "I've got too much to lose."

                "Then promise me something," she replied. "Promise you'll look out for yourself."

                That was a surprisingly big promise. A long-term goal worded as a short-term one. Surviving was one thing. Living was another.

                She was still staring at him, waiting for an answer. It occurred to him that instead of having nothing left to lose, he had everything on the line now.

                "Okay."

**Author's Note:**

>  _Kamen Rider Ryuki_ is the property of Ishimori Productions and Toei. This fic was originally written for Asexy April, but I took a while to finish it. For the purposes of this fic and my headcanon, Ren is demisexual/demiromantic, and Yui is asexual/aromantic.


End file.
